Mount Anagama [Contract Search]

[Toraono Michino]

The man pressed his hand against the stone. Nothing happened. Aside from the absolute silence nothing came forth. There was no grand entrance of ancient treasure, no massive power awaiting to be granted. Dust fell from the corner of the room. A spider farted.

The most mundane of steel blocks remained before Yoshi.

As Yoshi would remove his hand a single red line would dart up the center of the block, then down each side until it was back to where it started. As it darted back down into the center the light exploded and scattered all across the face of the ancient relic leaving a red glow to fill in the natural cracks of the stone to better reveal the symbol of a tree and its roots. The single place where his hand hand been folded in half and fell back inside of the cube. The sounds of locks and gears for locks unlatched and turned. At the sound of the last lock, which sounded like a large bell that to echoed throughout the whole chamber, a deafening silence followed to fill the entire mountain.
Animals outside would cease their movements completely. The sounds of nature cut off suddenly. The Small One looked up with fear welling in his eyes as he felt his timeline suddenly come to a stop with the rest of the world that lived on the mountain. A golden light in bright contrast to the red that was already there on the steel flashed down the middle of the cube’s face.

The cube opened two doors from the face. Light flooded into the room like water. It reached out like a living thing. Powerful and monstrous. The torches in the room flared up and burned out into nothing as the golden hue overtook everything inside the room. Yoshi could attempt to fight it or accept it, the result would end the same either way. A golden beam shot into the sky once more and cut through the few remaining storm clouds. The world inside of the mountain began to move again as time once more locked into the flow of the rest of the universe. The Seraphim blinked as he caught the last rays stretching into the sky. The young man was getting far more than the small one would have ever allowed with the way he had lost control…but, this was also probably why he had been stuck on this mountain for so long.
“I suppose this ends the service then…can’t say I’ll miss it…” He raised his hand up to the sky and smiled sadly as he watched his fingers glow a softer color of the ray that shot into the sky. Bit by bit they broke apart into tiny motes of light that raised up towards the heavens and flickered out one by one. In a matter of seconds the Small One and Yoshihisa no longer existed on this plane of existence.

When Yoshi opened his eyes in the speed of a blink, or if he had held them closed against the light, he’d find himself standing on an extremely flat surface made of concrete yet, to the touch, felt like marble. Stretched out before him in all directions was endless nothing checkered in grays and whites. An impossible to resist sensation of ease and calm coaxed his souls and body. The choices he would make here would perhaps be just as much his choice as much as it wouldn’t be.
This was the land of Kami. What was wasn’t, and was at the same time. If he dared to turn his gaze upwards he would see an infinite expanse of the void sprinkled with tiny multicolored stars here and there. As he would look around the young man would find that he stood in the crossroads of four paths and at the end of each path stood a pillar that was just barely visible. Each pillar and path spoke a different nature to him offering him choices on how to proceed when a voice cut through the whispers,
“That one. Right there near the very center and off to the left.” The Small One stood beside Yoshi and was looking up at the vast expanse of the galaxy. He was clothed in sheer white robes and his skin looked super healthy compared to how he had been on the world before. His finger pointed to a small red star glowing just ever so different from the other red like stars near it, “That one is your home.” He stayed quite for a moment to see if the mortal could figure out that he had moved very far away from the mountain he had trekked on.
“I’d never thought I’d see this day finally come but when they sent the orders down, well, how could I refuse? And you figured out how to open the gate without having to sacrifice your power I see. That was actually against the prophecy. Had the test gone like it was supposed to you would have slowly been stripped of everything you had in order to meet your destiny while your soul was at its most humble. Yet prophecy isn’t always set in stone, is it Yoshihisa?”
The Seraphim turned away and started to move towards the North Path with a grunt and a sigh,
“Guess this is my punishment…” he muttered to himself as he started to walk away from the shinobi and then stopped suddenly. After a moment of thought he spoke up, “The choice of which path you take is what your soul asks for, but, the path I’m about to walk is the quickest but also the hardest. In the end we’ll reach our destination but it’s going to feel like a thousand years. Uphill.

“Welcome to Heaven, by the way.”

 

[Kodoma Yoshihisa]

Without warning Yoshihisa was whisked away from all-consuming void of his subconscious and found himself in the vast expanses of a destination unknown: Slowly but surely the memories trickled back in, how they were consumed by the light as it seemed so intent on catching up to them, and how the defeafist attitude that plagued him so had kept the young shinobi from putting up any sort of resistance. Although this was usually the point in time where a maelstrom of nagging thoughts brought him to the verge of desperation his mind remained pleasantly devoid of such petty burdens, a realization almost disturbing in its own right. Said clarity was accompanied by an intense variety of emotions washing over him, resulting in streams of tears running down his face all the while sporting a smile most would reserve for that single moment in their life that would never be topped, and who was to say it ever would be?

When the time was finally upon him to somewhat pinpoint his whereabouts, he rose to his feet and took in what few sights there were to serve as landmarks. And right when it dawned on him that he was quite probably dealing with concepts simply unfathomable to all but the natives of this plane his train of thought was interrupted by a familiar voice. Under different circumstances he may have made efforts to be polite by voicing his opinion on the rejuvenated appearance, however it all seemed rather pointless to engage in small talk after making it this far. Instead he followed the trial the guide’s finger had made across the celestial map that spanned the ‘sky’ by the lack of a better word. ”Is it by any chance possible to observe this realm from there?” His good-natured scepticism would be unmistakable, for the more Yoshihisa took in from his surroundings the more he came to the conclusion that it simply had no basis in reality, or at the very least by terms known to men.

It came as quite the surprise to hear what the prophecy originally had in store for him -and to a lesser extent the both of them-, what had been required of him in order to succeed: There were so many questions he would have liked an answer to, even though he knew there was no time, here where they may very well be beyond that concept as a whole. ”Before you set off on your next journey I want to apologize. I know that I embody many mortal qualities that you no doubt have risen above: Back there I was prone to depressive tendencies, to let it be the drive behind my actions and that I let my guard down because of it.. I cannot even begin to imagine how long the road has been for you by comparison, and that while I think we both longed to eventually return to the place we call home.” With a divine being such as this, even the wisest of men inevitably found themselves grasping at straws during their efforts to connect with them. His assessment could just as easily be right on the money as being so far off it was almost comical, but seeing how he had traversed the path to make it here it left the possibility open, not set in stone.

”Whatever it may be, you have my thanks regardless for never letting go. I will find my way forward from here on out.”

[MFT]

 

[Toraono Michino]

The Small One felt his heart being lifted up. As a creature born of this realm he was immune to the feelings the mortal was being thrown through but he knew that the words were as honest as they could be. The only creatures that were allowed to lie in this realm were the Youkai Council. Even the Kami gave themselves away as black fog would roll out of their mouth; it happened when someone tried to use a mortal swear too. Their Overlord Ina had a great sense of humor even now despite the tribulations with her sister. Smiling up at the young man the boy nodded in thanks,
“May the rest of your journey be in your favor. In this realm I have the full extent of my strength and powers and I can now see that you near the end of this long road. I hope you find whatever it was that convinced you to walk it.”

The little Kami turned away from Yoshihisa and took a step towards True North and his image quickly tore away in little beams of light. He had chosen his road and how he would walk back home and now it was time for the young man to do the same. There was no shortcuts here in Heaven and The Four Roads extended out to him. All of them lead to the same destination which was the Land but some of them lead to different parts. The Seraphim had said that the North path was the hardest but fastest of all four.
Indeed it was. The North lead towards not only the home of his brethren but also to High Courts where Enma and the rest of the Council of Seven resided and made the laws that the universe followed to keep from falling apart. The path to the West lead towards the Rainbow Roads that was a long winding road made of prismatic light that stretched out for eons into the darkness of the void. It lead to the part of the Land that most mortals would normally encounter if brought here instead of stumbling here. The Southern Road looked like it lead into a swamp but that was only a guess as a thick fog obscured the shinobi’s sight. Even so the uncanny feeling of someone or something watching him would not shake no matter how hard Yoshi tried. When his eyes turned to view the East he would see the bright afternoon sunlight slowly set with darkness sitting at the end of the destination. The longer he looked to the East the more whispers he would hear promising him the things his mortal mind wanted and desired.

He was only moments from discovering the ‘why’ behind all of the mysteries that followed the grand mountain back home. How long that moment would take to reach would be dependent on what road he took.

 

[Kodoma Yoshihisa]

And just like that, he found himself alone once more in this otherworldly site. With the presence of Hōrai erased and his mind absolved from Earthly qualms, it became increasingly tempting to forgo the remainder of the trial and let this genuine sensation of tranquility soak in for however long his mortal coil would endure. Knowing full well that such luxury would not be set aside from his kind, Yoshihisa heaved his chest in a weary sigh and cautiously approached the variety of stages, not yet certain on where his journey would lead from here. Each path had this unnerving aspect to it, as if they whispered to him much like how he had experienced before caving in earlier. But despite the initially ceaseless assault on his psyche, this time around there would be nothing to embed itself in to make the young man their pawn, no sense of insecurity to take advantage of and no unbridled fury of a creature ‘meant’ to be abused by its host. It wouldn’t be long before the calm returned, and the shinobi had made up his mind: His search for answers would continue through the same path, by heading North.

His actions weren’t driven by a sense of grandeur or the knowledge that he would succeed without fail, but if anything he was simply incapable to do what he expected Kami were masters of in the field: Passing judgement of him. Yes, his pursuit wasn’t inherently selfless either, as he knew now it was next to impossible to be this beacon of spirituality and strive for the good of an ever-expansive picture, but he did have this strong desire to know why Rokkoyō-sama had sought out a successor in the first place. It was this one question he would be willing to throw the remainder of his life away for, quite probably proving the masters of this domain right in what simple-minded children the mortals were. And had he been able to debate with them on equal footing there surely would be so much more, this whole encounter feeling more like the veritable treasure trove of knowledge that it was, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that could benefit not only mankind, but the Kami themselves. Perhaps that right was reserved for the next visitor, if there would be one ever again.

”Here goes nothing.” His body was on edge as he stared into the abyss that was the Northern pillar, the odd sensation of his body breaking down into motes of light still something he would have to get used to. And as he was whisked away to who knows where, his eyes lingered on the plane surrounding him in all its glory, the radiant whites in its pallets causing him to well up once more. He didn’t exactly understand why, although the longer he remained the clearer it became not everything was like it seemed. Trying his very hardest to shake off this unfamiliair sensation, he instead focused on the task at hand and with that he once more faded out of consciousness.

 

[Toraono Michino]

The shinobi would walk forward and be rendered into light to be transported across a vast ocean of stars. Even as a stream of light he would be able to see the splendor of the Void all around him before the beam touched down at the base of a set of stairs floating seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The youth stood on the very edge of the cosmos itself, far beyond anyone in his entire species would ever see. No matter how far technology advanced the creatures that ruled the world right now would probably only just be able to touch the stars in their solar system. Behind him the Void opened up into an endless black. As if to spite the laws of physics the area around the stairs had breathable air, or perhaps, the very area of space that the stairs was stuck in was warped to appear to have air, as the rock floating in the Void did not move. It was in a fixed state. The staircase itself was a sight to see as it lead up into a warm golden light that seemed to materialize out of a collective of golden star dust. Twelve white marble steps awaited for the soul to walk into the realm the Seraphim had proceeded into.

He was literally standing on a stairway to Heaven.

The moment he decided to plunge forward and take the first step the area around him would instantly change from one of the void of space to a small public library. The second a school from another universe where friends beckoned him into a simple life; the third an endless moonlit beach. With each step he took the last vanished so that he could not step back, only forward, as he walked through every last single life his soul could be, has been, and would be. This is what made the North path the hardest of them all but also the quickest. It gave the soul walking them the chance to simply choose the life they always wanted, out of the infinite possibilities, and simply live there. The young shinobi would step through each life and not only feel them but see glimpses of their memories as his own. War, motherhood, fatherhood, royalty, large family, provished, dead, the leader of a free world, and so on. Only a soul with true willpower can walk the Steps of Life and ascend.
It was not unusual for a soul to step into a life here and live it out entirely before moving back to the staircase to step up to the next life, returning to the youth they were when they stopped. Even death won’t stop the ascending spirit from advancing to the next step, the next life, all the way to the top until they have experienced every aspect of life and become not unlike gods themselves. However time was relative. So long as he lived his life the world he hailed from would continue theirs. Should he tarry too long experiencing the fruits the multiverse had to offer him he may return back home completely removed from history itself; or would he be able to simply power through all twelve steps?

As he would finish the final step he would feel his body wake up on grass and a simple cool breeze would caress his body. Into this realm he was returned his mortal mind and body but they would feel refreshed - as if everything he had just experienced was a dream and he had been laying here the whole time. Blue skies would stretch on forever on an island floating calmly in a sky in a world far away from everything. As he stared at the sky it would shift from noon to mid-day, back to noon, then suddenly into night by the minutes. After it sank into darkness and the street lights lit up a road was revealed that lead up to a sprawling ancient city made of gray marble and stone. Not far up the road the Small One was sitting on the ground seemingly trying to catch his breath. He was staring at his hands as if trying to grasp exactly who or what he was when the sun started to rise in the distance for a moment, peeking over the horizon as if to check on things and slink back down returning everything back into night.
“Ah, not far behind me I see…or perhaps I’ve just been sitting here a very long time. Not sure right now,” he clenched his hand into a fist and reopened it. Obviously the poor thing was a lost cause now having no doubt chose to live out some of the lives his soul had a chance at.

The road would go on for some time but there was no more trickery. Only five minutes would pass before another set of stairs lead up into the city. As he walked up the city itself would drop as if made of water and reform into a simple tower. When the youth turned around he would see the rest of the city he still had the chance to explore but apparently something was calling to him here.

 

[Kodoma Yoshihisa]

”...”

Every step along the way, there was this ever-present and rather disquieting silence hot on his heels: Where at first he had at attributed it to the setting that was the library, it gradually became apparent to him that it had been a matter entirely beyond the librarian running a tight ship. Another step ascending the stairs towards a fate unknown, and nothing had changed in the slightest. Surely, the scenery stood out as different from before, but inevitably it couldn’t help but come across as hollow and lifeless, as if the set pieces weren’t quite as much acting alongside him as they were acting -at- him.

”Is this truly the life you want to aspire to?”

The realization hit him as the events stretched out in front of him like still-images, none of them being particularly appealing despite their efforts to tug away at his heartstrings. From the beauty that was the birth of ‘his’ children as they were healthy and without a care in the world to the heartrending confrontations that accompanied war, he couldn’t help but remain distant from it all, never staying behind for long to observe his lives as they could have been. It all seemed hopelessly token when compared to how he had lived his life these past few years, more often than not losing himself in the sense of self loathing as he desperately wished for the warmth that he could have received here today, but now that the time was finally here he was faced with the reflection of the foolishness behind it all.

”There is nothing for you to go and pursue here, not when you have a life waiting for you still.”

The voice resonated through his mind, soothing and at the same time almost authoritarian in tone. Each realm he crossed into, it urged him onwards so that he wouldn’t stay behind: The words spoken rang true, making it somewhat hard to believe it were none other than his own. Not too long ago, it had been seeds to be sown for doubt, regret and pain, and now here they were, guiding him through the course that may have been nigh impossible to clear had he taken a moment to look back. Had he grown somehow, had he subconsciously realized something that he had yet to become aware off? No answer came to him, although he couldn’t express how grateful he was when the last vision finally faded before him, and the soft whistling of the grass was the first sound that reached his ears after being absent for what seemed like -and perhaps have been- ages.

”Looks like we’ve made it.. Meaning there is nothing more to do for me than to bid you adieu.

For a brief instance he almost swore he had spotted a humanoid shape walking the road ahead of him, only to lose sight after it had passed. Slightly bewildered, Yoshihisa tried to find a point of reference and thus his eyes soon fell upon the Kami, to which he couldn’t help but take pity after seeing the sorry state it was in after the long journey. ”Hang on just a little while longer.” Without giving it a chance to protest the youth tried to hoist the mystical being on his back for a piggyback ride all before setting down the road in pursuit of the fleeting image. It mattered little to him if it would be taken as an insult, or whether or not it had been the message behind these trials and on a basic level if he was even capable of providing this service: It seemed like the most decent approach in a story that may not be as glamorous as he would have wanted as times, but after such a long time finally made its first, yet noticeable upturn. And as he/they walked into the city for a long overdue meeting with destiny, he couldn’t quite keep a chuckle from escaping his lips. For a mental and emotional exercise that seemed to have been designed to bring all potential comers to their knees in order to break them while they were at their most vulnerable, in the end it had served as the tool to open his eyes for what was waiting for him. He was inclined to say that for the first time in years, he actually felt alive despite or perhaps because of the adversities he had faced.

[MFT]

 

[Toraono Michino]

Without needing to knock or even so much as touch the stone it was made from a golden light streaked down the center and split the structure in twain. With groans that seemed to echo all through the silent city the stone tablets opened inward to bathe Yoshi and his companion in a golden light that flooded out like the same energy that threw him across the universe. This time it just flowed out and around them like sentient water. It moved down the streets lighting up lamps and bringing parts of the city to life behind him. After a few short seconds the room was no longer blinding to look beyond. Small bits of liquid light continued to flow out into the air as the chamber was revealed.
It was a perfectly circle room about sixty feet in diameter. The ceiling was hosted high about a good thirty-two feet off the ground. Two pillars each on Yoshihisa’s left and right were made from a grimy black stone and a pure white polished marble respectively rose up to touch the ceiling. They gave the room a more pronounced balance of energy that he would be able to feel just by entering. It was akin to the bliss he had experienced when first entering the realm but this time it didn’t overtake his whole personality; it was just something he could sense.

Sitting on his legs folded beneath him was a monk in deep meditation in the very center of the room. He was wrapped in a traditional monk’s garment revealing bare withered flesh from his shoulder. Long greasy black hair cascaded down his shoulders, over his face, and down to the floor pooling around him as if it had been growing for over a thousand years. On his right was a large rice hat made of a material that looked lighter than cloth yet sturdier than the straw weave pattern it was still made from. To his left laid two slightly curved blades meant for katanas without hilt or sheath; before him a large spear had been driven into the ground. An unearthly glow surrounded the man and though he looked withered there was an unmistakable aura of power. From the very moment the doors opened Yoshi and the little Seraphim could taste the raw strength yet kneeling before them appeared to be a withered old man.

“How long, I wonder?” the monk questioned with a scratchy voice, “Was it long enough?”
“As with all things that the realm of the mortals touches,” softly spoke the Small One from Yoshi’s back, “Chaos rules. Does this man know or even believe in fate? No, but he has made it this far. No other has even attempted to walk this path. He even took the hardest road and stepped away from it unscathed.”
“No, I’d say improved…” the old monk whispered as he lifted his hands up to look down at the thin skin stretched across his bony fingers.
“Yoshi…I was once a man who could lift this mighty spear before me. Long ago it was once just a spear. Then with my hand I improved upon it so that I could save my people by enslaving the land. After many years it turned into a symbol of hope and a chance at peace. The power of the Land that rolled through me, however, let me live long enough to see my actions become misdeeds. It occurred to me that to control the power I had sealed into my body I needed to use it for life and thus set about walking the world to find true inner peace; for it was the only thing that could bring the beast to heel,” the monk slowly lifted his head from the thousand year meditation causing old joints to pop and crack, “I failed. No matter how in tuned with the world I became I could not control the Mountain that I had placed inside of me. So I turned to the gods for help…”

Slowly his knee lifted up to slide a foot underneath his old frame. With a push the monk lifted himself to a standing position with his hair never moving enough to reveal his full face. The right hand slipped around the brim of the hat and placed it on his head before he fully stood up. The Seraphim squirmed out of the grasp of Yoshi and dropped to the ground unceremoniously before waddling towards the monk in a trance-like state. He walked past the spear and stood before the withered old man, staring up at him. The shinobi couldn’t see it but the Small One was gently crying tears of remorse.
He had lead a full life though. A few of them actually. Yet the thought of his conscious being erased and brought back into one whole overwhelmed the emotions that had been programmed into him. The monk reached out and touched the head of the little angel who winched and gasped; then turned into a small pillar of light that absorbed itself back into the monk.

The withered frame filled back out into a whole. The lone shoulder shone suddenly filled with muscle and in seconds the monk took on a form that closer resembled the power he was exuding.
“I ascended their mountain, the very same the Land had been born from, and at every turn they tried to kill me. It seemed that in sealing the Beast inside of me I shifted the very balance of Law and Chaos itself. Yet, to spite their best efforts or at least as much as they could here in this realm, I made contact with their leader.
“She told me to place the creature into a pair of holy shackles and to return the power to my village until someone could be found to control the creature. The shackles were meant for me. They betrayed me, Yoshi, and took from me my strength. Placed it into the form of a child so that it could never achieve it’s full potential and forced to watch one of the entrances to this realm for eternity. The Shackles took from me the Land so that I could not break free from their prison. Yet somehow I see the Chains That Bind found their way to you…and you back to me.”

He started to walk forward. Step by menacing step the monk slowly walked up to the spear and wrapped his hand around it. An explosion of power shook the entire city alerting the heavenly populace what had just awakened. The cracks in the ground where the spear had been driven started to leak out the golden liquid light that had filled the room. The monk began to lift the spear and more light poured out.

“Grab the spear,” whispered a voice, “Show him the strength of your will…”

 

[Kodoma Yoshihisa]

Watching intently as the city cast aside its guise to reveal the wonderous mechanics underneath, the young man couldn’t flat out deny anymore that the realm he found himself in presently felt surreal in countless ways: His senses had been constantly bombarded along the way, leaving him awestruck where dazed and bewildered would have fit the bill for any sensible person. Wholly separate from what he may have recognized as the works of mere mortals in terms of Genjutsu, the fact his combat instinct hadn’t kicked in as of yet should have called for some concern. All this however changed upon setting foot in the chamber, or more accurately upon registering the choking presence cast forth by the doddery elder positioned in front of them, serving as a prime example how a good shinobi must be able to see past the outer layer to truly observe someone. Yet even now, he couldn’t begin to imagine the amount of layers that were still standing between them, although it felt remarkably familiar all the same.

Before old habits would inevitably get the better of him, Yoshihisa set to listening to the exchange between the sagely figure and the guide he had taken to transporting for the last leap of their collective journey. It wasn’t until the words were directed at him that he dared to meet the monk’s gaze, already having a sneaking -and mostly accurate- suspicion in whom’s presence he found himself at this very moment. Not so much driven by the desire to respect one’s elder and instead deeply ashamed of their shared history, on a social level the youth appeared to be actively hurting to keep the distance between them from widening, dreading the thought it would become insurmountable. ”I see.” The tales of old had not dared to speak of such matters, that the one thought to be the embodiment of inner peace despite acting as host to a creature torn by inner turmoil, this forgotten hero of legend.. was capable of failure.

Unflinchingly he watched as the Kami was absorbed in the span of few seconds, his body refusing to display any kind of emotion whatsoever despite the pang of regret he felt. What would be the point of objecting when he had but experienced the alleged final arc of a story he couldn’t fully comprehend as of yet, nor was aware of the purpose of every tiny cog in a mechanic so vast it would overwhelm him just thinking about it? The monk’s renewal served as the turnpoint where it gradually would become clear to Yoshihisa that there was perhaps not going to be a satisfying answer to any of this, as what was addressed couldn’t help but come across as bitter and desperate. Men it seemed would always be men, and the tales where they rose above themselves and met the higher beings which shaped the universe on equal footing were called myths for a reason. And as he stepped forward to oblige the voice, he could feel his movements halting just as his hand extended to grasp the spear.

”Rokkoyō-sama, would you really measure a life lived according to your teachings ‘lacking in potential’? If fate had been turning the gears, he was bound to fail from the start. And so it goes to show that a message is always lost in translation.”

He exhaled, the words of disapproval clinging to his lips as he had been somewhat hesitant to speak up at first, only for it to come more natural than he could have possibly imagined. Disillusioned, sure, but it hadn’t been the first time where he had wholeheartedly felt deviating from the path another had set out for was the way to go. And so, he gripped the handle of the spear and began to pull at his own accord, all the while whispering his prayers, born from the innate desire to do so for first time in forever: Purpose mattered little now, as all he wanted to remember his former companion by was the image of a servant deserving of respect for the dedication he had shown, long before and if things had turned out differently, no doubt long after he was gone.

[MFT]

 

[Toraono Michino]

The monk looked into the eyes of the youth and glared at him as he reached up to grasp his spear too. Glowing golden energy engulfed his irises and began to pour out like tears as he began to exert the strength and power he had been building up this entire time he had been imprisoned.
The Kami knew that if anyone would ever find this part of their city they cut off long ago what they could possibly unleash was far more than they wanted to deal with. So they removed the monk’s youth and placed it in the form of a Seraphim. They wrote in the little angel’s memories and sent him down to the anchor they were forced to place on this mountain so that the lock would hold. In order to keep the vengeance of a mortal man who had gained immortality from wreaking havoc on their realm they straight broke off a piece of their land and sealed him far away.
Having a constant sight on the human races nearly all the time it is rare when the Holy Ones Above underestimate a man, but they did so when it came to the First Prison. Long before he took in the mountain’s spirit the mortal had mastered his entire body first. The first part of his body he mastered was his mind and with that he was able to meditate throughout the eons that would pass in this realm while the one he was from would trickle by. It was as long as he needed it to be and that was the fault of the Kami for not trapping his mind into a slumber thinking he would long ago fall into madness.
Eventually he reached out to the Small One and was able to take control of it but learned quickly that he could not leave the mountain or its forest. Through him he watched and waited as he drove away all but the smallest remnants of the forces that came to raid the natural resources. With each defeat the Small One would call the remaining living mortals ‘unworthy of the Ancient’s treasure.

Rokkoyo knew man for he was once man.

The rumors spread and before long he knew that the rumors of an unsearchable mountain would reach the ears of whoever had succeed in being the next in line for the Shackles. It had been a very long time before Yoshihisa set foot upon the holy range and in that time even he had forgotten who he was. Everything he had planned to do was of his own tribulations in seeking help from the gods to try and weaken the boy in any way he could possible to take the shackles and spirit back into him. Yet every plan failed. Now the young shinobi was grasping the same spears and whispering words that had real power in this realm - broken off or not this was once a part of Kami’s holy sanctuary. He forced his grip down hard to pull the weapon his direction. Powerful energy stored in the spear swirled around both of them and started to destroy the very room they stood in.
“Release the spear you young fool! You have no idea how the gods see us! They stand in ceremony and make laws while we tear each other apart in endless war seeking peace! I can strike them down and become the new and single god to rule mankind from the eyes of a man and not that of a heavenly being built to control!” The monk’s endless stored up power wrapped its golden light around his shoulders and arms to add their might to pull back against the raw strength of the youth’s prayers. Yet strangely the man could go no further against Yoshi. No matter his strength an aura of righteousness began to exude from his form and add its strength. The spear tilted back towards the shinobi and the ground cracked wider showing both that the weapon was being held down not by the shattering temple but by a force of unknown will.

“Draw it,” the voice whispered once again.

 

[Kodoma Yoshihisa]

Yoshihisa’s own expression was one of utter concentration, although the hint of pity in his eyes as he looked back at this grand figure of myth was undeniable. It seemed that even hundreds of years in the presence of the divine were destined to go to waste when it came to putting faith in the mortals’ approach to reason: Arrogant, prone to fall victim to their emotions and shortsighted as came with the short years they were granted and thus wholeheartedly flawed. He was amongst these fated victims, and so it too appeared was the man mankind had held up to increasingly unrealistic standards in order to mask their inevitable shortcomings. His grip on the spear tightened somewhat, not quite as interested in obtaining it for himself as he was concerned it did not belong anywhere else, not for the time being that is.

”As one man to another, -give or take a few centuries- you seem to have forgotten that in their eyes we are but impatient children, desperate in our longing for the day that we have grown up and are masters of our own domain. Perhaps it was never our destiny to learn about the grand scheme of things from the Gods, them being content to leave us struggling in the dark.” His words bore no trace of malice, neither towards these creatures nor the monk as he appeared dead set to further his inherently selfish desires. From his standpoint all he could do was philosophize, knowing full well that in a sense his way of thinking could perhaps be labeled the most flawed of all if all he could rely on were his own moral values. ”I don’t want to gloss over your suffering or devalue your legacy, Rokkoyō-sama: If only you would show the same consideration to him, and by extension, yourself.”

Was this how his short tale would end, bound to struggle with his predecessor in a realm which despite appearances was the furthest thing from home, a mere gilded cage if you will? For all he knew he could have been passing judgement far too early, this conflict being nothing if part of a trial that may not be even his own anymore, if had been to begin with. A weary sigh passed his lips, realizing that now was not the time to be paralyzed by his doubts, for if his journey had taught him anything it was that despite his hardships he would endure, should endure. If it meant he was about to cross over into the next life holding true to his believes and with it his very core, then so be it: With a smile on his face, Yoshihisa retracted his hand, loosely holding unto the handle as he decided to let fate take the reins from here on out. Whether or not he would be destined to come out on top, whether or not that even matters, all remained to be seen as his eyes shut and his body braced itself for whatever would come next.

[MFT]

 

[Toraono Michino]

The monk only seemed to return a glare. In his eyes Yoshihisa would see the mortal’s pride and arrogance; the eyes an adult gives to an unlearned child. So far above the rest of humanity the man believed himself he had no idea that his efforts were all in vain.
To outmaneuver the gods as a mortal took more than just a single mind. The Kami had a hand in starting the creation of man’s realm and knew their plans. They knew what they loved, hated, what could be taught, and how far they could reach before breaking. While Rokkoyo thought he had a plan for all these centuries locked away in a realm far away from his own, the gods were carefully monitoring the status of the Shackles. A day didn’t go by that they didn’t carefully maneuver the mortals in an attempt to make sure great power didn’t fall into the wrong hands, but even then they could still miscalculate.

The High One, a Kami that directly kept an eye on the mortal realm and reported to their leader, uncovered Rokkoyo’s plan on accident. She just happened to be looking down around that mountain range that once moved as a living being when a golden light decimated a caravan of humans moving towards the mountain. The High One instantly recognized the holy energy of their plane and knew that it had to be the Seraphim they had left to guard the entrance to the monk’s prison, but nothing in it’s orders was to defend the entire mountain or use such extremes.
So a counter strategy was born. The Shackles were carefully maneuvered away from the hands of their current owner to be latched onto Yoshihisa’s wrists. Through suggestion and hints they eventually lead the boy to the mountain and continued to keep a close eye on him while the young man went through the monk’s elaborate set up.
Even when it seemed like the youth was going to break the Kami stood by and watched calmly assured in their decision. Now the same man was starring down the original Jinchuuriki and had succeed beyond even their expectations.

“Still a child after all,” Rokkoyo muttered as his golden aura began to envelop the spear more. The air itself seemed to vibrate as golden power flowed out of him and into the room. Unlike before it was thick like the water it appeared to be, reaching up to drown the shinobi, but before it could even get chest high he willingly released the weapon.

The monk’s eyes looked shocked. A mysterious figure stood by the door with a grin on her face.

All of the golden holy energy began to swirl into the focal point of the spear’s tip. Within seconds the air stopped shaking and the unearthly calm spread back through the room. The monk’s hand had melded with the spear and a golden light was starting to make its way quickly up his arm. A smirk, then a grimace, then an chuckle which boiled over into a bitter laugh rolled out of the legend’s mouth. It was as if someone said a joke that only he had been allowed to hear, and the joke had been the irony of his actions.
“Ah, I see…of course…centuries of meditating and I still haven’t even begun to understand the Truth…if only…I could live long enough to witness…it, he spoke lowly as the light turned his whole body into pure energy. Like the rest of the golden splendor it too was absorbed into the spear.

A small pair of hands clapped from the door way. If the youth decided to turn around to witness what it was he would only catch air before a voice behind him would speak,
“That was very well done.”
Even if he hadn’t turned the Kami would be standing there on the end of the spear the moment he blinked. She was four feet tall and was wearing a Victorian era white dress. Her small feet were bare and as she hopped off the spear and floated to the ground on little wings of light that appeared and vanished at her whim. Yet despite her child-like appearance there was an aura of mastery exuding from her small frame. With gleeful eyes she looked up and spoke in a voice far deeper than one would expect,
“You are everything we hoped you would be Yoshihisa. Through this long journey you have managed to save not only our realm but possibly your own as well,” she turned her back and tip toed over to where the monk had stood, “I still hate that we had to trick him,” she said in a far sadder tone.
“We Kami govern over many realms though the realm you are from is rather special to most of us. However no matter how much we want to we can’t directly interfere. Rokkoyo didn’t understand that no man was meant to have the power he had access too and so we had to trick him into wearing the shackles to take most of it away. We also knew the moment we imprisoned him that if he was to ever get out we would pay dearly for it…but,” she turned on her heel to look back up at the shinobi, “You saved us instead. Even we heavenly beings are playthings to the whims of Fate and there are some things that we can never run from no matter how many lifetimes we spend. So for that, on behalf of the Sacred Council, we would like to reverse a decision and let you decide how to use it.”

The High One lifted her pale hand and the spear removed itself from the ground. Before Yoshi could try and dodge the weapon launched itself into his heart. The holy golden light of the Kami coursed itself through his veins and with it was the Mountain Spirit’s full power. A clicking sound unlocked the chains of the metal that bound to his wrists though they did not fall. Golden energy began to form on his wrists where the clamps had been at the tightest into the shape of a runic seal.
“It’s all yours. Somewhere in that energy the spirit of the monk still resides as I doubt his willpower would allow his conscious to fade that easily. I’m sure all three of you will have some words for each other once you’ve mastered your real power and found him. The little angel tilted her hand back with her fingers together and raised it up like she was going to give him a high-five and her face all but said ‘yeah high-five me bro’.

“Ready to go home?” she asked with a stupid grin.

 

[Kodoma Yoshihisa]

Upon the realization that he was now the sole wielder of the spear Yoshihisa opened his eyes, just barely registering the event which took place before him. With the monk having broken down very much the same way his younger avatar had before him, he found himself all alone, dazed by what had transpired and quite honestly not at all certain how to continue onwards from here on out: His grip loosened, fingers slipping from the artifact’s hilt as the urge to drop down on his knees after such a draining experience became almost overwhelmingly appealing. Never in the entirety of his journey had be ever felt this feeble, this vulnerable, for even at his lowest point there had been a spark of mortal pride keeping him from being swallowed whole.

”Well done perhaps, but not in the very least satisfying.” His body failed him as he just blankly stared out in front of him, the stare eventually being met by the entity as she perched on top of the spear. She appeared to have nothing but praise for the youth’s actions, although what magic this place emitted seemed to have all but disappeared as it became little more than noises layering over each other and would inevitably be lost to him. It wasn’t until he picked up her change in tone that the neuron would fire and he returned to the present with a question burning on his mind as much as his lips, one he wouldn’t mind interrupting a vast superior being for if it meant he would obtain the sweet release knowledge could provide him with. ”What are we to you, if I may be so bold? How can I possibility be a savior to you if my species is destined to be a menace solely because they are inferior and unknowing?”

His expectations had been shattered over the course of the last twenty-four hours -or however the flow of time would interact with this realm-, as he had seen legends reduced to mere caricatures of themselves and the divine act human to an almost unsettling degree. Perhaps this was why knowledge was overrated and certain aspects of being were best explored by imagination alone, although it had stung his pride knowing that despite his usual sober outlook on life he had allowed himself to be amazed by the insubstantial. ”On second thought, perhaps that is something not meant for me to know.” He just barely mustered the energy to put on a halfway convincing smile, only to be brutally cut short as he was impaled by the weapon. The pain associated with the shock never came, and Yoshihisa stood his ground as he panted nervously, clutching his chest with a look of utmost bewilderment plastered across his face. ”We aren’t clairvoyant by nature, so please.. a warning next time when you bestow someone with gifts we may want t-..” A sigh as he waved it off, collecting himself from his semi-outburst. He had endured much worse, and if it was still be would have to shoulder from here on out, then so be it. Upon close examination the gesture could be interpreted in few other ways, and so the shinobi clapped his hand against the creature’s to meet her expectations. Before he speak, his mind briefly allowed itself to wonder why now of all times the skin around his hand had decided to adopt the grey and craggy exterior he usually reserved for combat. In the end, he shrugged it off and instead focused on the last task at hand: Making his way home.

”Always.”

[MFT]

 

[Toraono Michino]

A worried expression crossed the Seraphim’s face for a moment when he asked the bold question of her. Surely he deserved to know the Truth. Out of all the mortals she had ever met he was the most amazing specimen, but it was still something she was hesitant to reveal to a mortal regardless of his ability to handle it.
The true view of the Kami was a complex one that involved a council, but to boil it down they were creatures that wholly depended on the Realm of Man to survive. Their realm, the realm of the Youkai where the evil were to be punished, and the mortal realm were all part of one big balance sandwich. If any three of the realms ever got a leg up over the other all chaos would spill out across their little piece of the multiverse; which would bring on even darker terrors. Once it had been the job of both realms to keep the balance but as of late the Holy Ones were taking the full brunt. The war their leader started to cleanse all Lower Realms of demons and their ilk was placing certain things in jeopardy. The Seraphim was also now seeing the terrible decision making it was causing - like the imprisonment of the monk’s true powers. However just as she started to open her mouth to reply the mortal saved her the trouble. A sigh of relief came from her happy expression.
“It is far more complicated than I’d like to admit, but, I promise that most of us have a very high opinion of your kind and every form of it. After all without your presence there would be all kinds of trouble. Also I apologize for being so forward but,” her grinned widened as he head tilted, “I can only hold this realm away from ours for so long now that the anchor is gone. Have fun Yoshi, I do hope we meet again! I really want to try Human tea someday…”

Their hands clapped in a high five.

The golden light that had engulfed the man and brought him across the universe into this realm gripped his form and tore it back into his proper realm. Back in the world of man the storm clouds that had covered the entire mountain range for the last two days started to rumble as small streaks of yellow lightning crawled across the bottom. Without warning a pillar of light would explode from the storm clouds that had been hovering and struck down at the very base on the path rare pilgrims would take - the same the beaten young man had traveled.
As the light slowly recreated his physical form back into his realm there was the unmistakable feeling of a woman’s hand upon his cheek. It caressed his face for a moment before sliding away back into the heavens. Any normal mortal upon hearing this story would believe it was Yoshihisa that had been blessed with great power and wisdom from his trip to see the Kami.

The truth, however, was quite the reverse.

Congratulations! You have earned the Kami Contract!<i></i>

 

[Kodoma Yoshihisa]

Plucked away before he had even time to respond, he found himself back in the world he came from with nothing but what seemed like a rather trivial wish from the Kami occupying his mind. Whether or not they were destined to meet again was well beyond him, the desire to drink something as simple as their tea however was just not connecting with him: Was the human culture really this exotic for beings revered throughout the ages as being the night to their day, a position to envy for their vast knowledge and power? No longer granted easy access to what may have been the most trivial matters of all Yoshihisa picked himself up from the dirt and dusted off his clothing all the while scouting his new surroundings.

It had been an exhausting experience as a whole, one that he would no doubt take to his grave rather than having to explain himself time and again. ”Hōrai?” The one to initially cause him to set out for his journey remained silent ever since its defeat, although he could still detect its presence along with a new one. So this whole ordeal couldn’t be written off as a mere dream, now could it? A weary smile prided his features as he took his first wobbly step, then another: Without the hour he found himself at the base of the mountain once more after what felt like days. Who was he to say that it hadn’t been, but he knew that with all of this behind him there was more recognition in what seemed to be so far fetched at first. Indeed, he could go for a fine cup of tea right now, if it wouldn’t be too much to ask.

[Topic left]

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PS: My thanks for coming along on this journey with me, Michino! Not only for moderating this experience but for helping develop my character along the way. It was truly a pleasure to work with you for the past few months. ^^